Overview: Lesson: Taste buds and their locations Grade: Middle to high school grade level Duration: 50 minute class period Overview: For this activity students will be determining the locations of their different taste buds on their tongue by tasting different foods. First they'll think about tongues in general and the science behind our taste buds. They'll have some time to talk with their classmates about what they know about the tongue. We’ll emphasis the cell to tissue to organ structure and elaborate on the five different tastes. Next they will engage in a taste testing activity in which they must try to identify the various tastes and where each one might be located. They will have cups with the 5 tastes plus a unknown cup that contains a mixture of two tastes. Students will have to try each one and attempt to locate the part of the tongue that has the most taste buds for that particular taste. Once they’ve mapped out a general idea of where the tastes are located, they’ll have to work together to identify what tastes the unknown liquid consists of. As a result of this activity, they’ll learn that certain regions of the tongue are better at tasting certain flavors than others.
Rationale and Relationship to Standards: We chose to perform this lesson because activities involving senses are fun and interactive. Students enjoy tasks like this because they uses senses like their tongue every day. We chose to connect it to the NGSS standard: 6-8 LS1C: Multicellular organisms have specialized cells that perform different functions. These cells join together to form tissues that give organs their structure and enable the organs to perform specialized functions within organ systems. While the standard gets into more detailed structure and function, it's important to teach it in a way that gets students interested. By getting our students interested in the topic, they'll be more compelled to listen to the more scientific aspects of the lesson.
Materials:
For taste testing (sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami solutions with similar viscosity) Small cups with Q-tips containing:
Sweet(sugar in water)
Umami (soy sauce)
Sour (diluted lemon juice)
Bitter (coffee)
Salty (salt in water)
Water (for palate cleanse)
Mystery solution (Unagi sauce: sweet + umami)
Teaching materials:
PowerPoint (continuity from senses unit, describes taste bud receptors, different types of receptors)
Group set of tongue layout printouts
Color pencils
B. Things done in advance: Review PowerPoint Separate class into 5 groups, have 5 sets of materials
C.What the teachers and students will do: First, students will be given a slide observation of a tongue. We will ask for their thoughts on what it makes them think about. This will be followed by a turn and talk in which students will begin to think about the five different tastes and where they might be located on the tongue. Next the teachers will discuss the structural makeup of the tongue (organ, tissue, cells). We will also break down the five different tasks and some examples. This will lead into us introducing the hands on taste testing activity.
For the activity, students will be given the different samples for each taste, as a group determine which parts of the tongue each taste is located. This is done by taking some of each mystery liquid and dipping a q-tip or toothpick in it. Where the taste is strongest is where that type of taste is. (Important note: use a fresh q-tip each time you sample a mixture!) Once you’ve tried all the tastes, sample the unknown mixture and try to determine which tastes are present.
As an exit ticket, students will individually diagram a tongue and label where each taste was found for them. Also, they are asked to identify the mystery flavor. Looking at these exit slips will give us a snapshot of student understanding of the learning targets by seeing where students drew each taste. Also, asking students during the activity about the relationship between cells, tissues, and organs will reinforce that aspect of the learning target.
Students will understand the relationship between structure and function in a human tongue.
Students will know the five taste types.
The lesson starts with a Slide Observation of a picture of a human tongue. During this time, divergent questioning is encouraged and we can get an informal idea of what students may know or want to know more about the tongue.
Soon after, we will have each group of students brainstorm where the five tastes are on their tongues using any prior knowledge they have. Each group will draw this out on a sheet of paper and present their ideas quickly to the class. This is another informal assessment which gives us the initial understanding of each group.
At the end of the lesson, there is an exit ticket with a diagram of the tongue on it. Each individual student will complete this exit ticket and draw in the appropriate taste areas on the tongue. They are also asked to identify the mystery flavor. Students will show satisfactory evidence of learning if they draw all taste areas correctly and label the mystery flavor as umami/sweet. If students consistently miss certain tastes, we will modify future instruction to better address these areas.
Active Learning Investigation
Overview:
Lesson: Taste buds and their locations
Grade: Middle to high school grade level
Duration: 50 minute class period
Overview: For this activity students will be determining the locations of their different taste buds on their tongue by tasting different foods. First they'll think about tongues in general and the science behind our taste buds. They'll have some time to talk with their classmates about what they know about the tongue. We’ll emphasis the cell to tissue to organ structure and elaborate on the five different tastes. Next they will engage in a taste testing activity in which they must try to identify the various tastes and where each one might be located. They will have cups with the 5 tastes plus a unknown cup that contains a mixture of two tastes. Students will have to try each one and attempt to locate the part of the tongue that has the most taste buds for that particular taste. Once they’ve mapped out a general idea of where the tastes are located, they’ll have to work together to identify what tastes the unknown liquid consists of. As a result of this activity, they’ll learn that certain regions of the tongue are better at tasting certain flavors than others.
Rationale and Relationship to Standards:
We chose to perform this lesson because activities involving senses are fun and interactive. Students enjoy tasks like this because they uses senses like their tongue every day. We chose to connect it to the NGSS standard: 6-8 LS1C: Multicellular organisms have specialized cells that perform different functions. These cells join together to form tissues that give organs their structure and enable the organs to perform specialized functions within organ systems. While the standard gets into more detailed structure and function, it's important to teach it in a way that gets students interested. By getting our students interested in the topic, they'll be more compelled to listen to the more scientific aspects of the lesson.
- Materials:
For taste testing (sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami solutions with similar viscosity)Small cups with Q-tips containing:
Teaching materials:
B. Things done in advance:
Review PowerPoint
Separate class into 5 groups, have 5 sets of materials
C.What the teachers and students will do:
First, students will be given a slide observation of a tongue. We will ask for their thoughts on what it makes them think about. This will be followed by a turn and talk in which students will begin to think about the five different tastes and where they might be located on the tongue. Next the teachers will discuss the structural makeup of the tongue (organ, tissue, cells). We will also break down the five different tasks and some examples. This will lead into us introducing the hands on taste testing activity.
For the activity, students will be given the different samples for each taste, as a group determine which parts of the tongue each taste is located. This is done by taking some of each mystery liquid and dipping a q-tip or toothpick in it. Where the taste is strongest is where that type of taste is. (Important note: use a fresh q-tip each time you sample a mixture!) Once you’ve tried all the tastes, sample the unknown mixture and try to determine which tastes are present.
As an exit ticket, students will individually diagram a tongue and label where each taste was found for them. Also, they are asked to identify the mystery flavor. Looking at these exit slips will give us a snapshot of student understanding of the learning targets by seeing where students drew each taste. Also, asking students during the activity about the relationship between cells, tissues, and organs will reinforce that aspect of the learning target.
D. References: Taste Bud Information: __https://www.britannica.com/science/taste-bud__
Assessment:
Learning Targets:
- Students will understand the relationship between structure and function in a human tongue.
- Students will know the five taste types.
The lesson starts with a Slide Observation of a picture of a human tongue. During this time, divergent questioning is encouraged and we can get an informal idea of what students may know or want to know more about the tongue.Soon after, we will have each group of students brainstorm where the five tastes are on their tongues using any prior knowledge they have. Each group will draw this out on a sheet of paper and present their ideas quickly to the class. This is another informal assessment which gives us the initial understanding of each group.
At the end of the lesson, there is an exit ticket with a diagram of the tongue on it. Each individual student will complete this exit ticket and draw in the appropriate taste areas on the tongue. They are also asked to identify the mystery flavor. Students will show satisfactory evidence of learning if they draw all taste areas correctly and label the mystery flavor as umami/sweet. If students consistently miss certain tastes, we will modify future instruction to better address these areas.